It is with the heaviest heart I announce to the Southern California diving community that Roger Hess, one of the founding pioneers in California Chartering SCUBA boat diving Industry and very good friend, has passed away this evening at approximately 6:00 PM from lung cancer at the age of 83. Roger had family at his side until the very end.

Roger and his wife Marilyn started their SCUBA charter business in 1959. They retired from the initial business in 2009. In 1979, Roger, Marilyn and son Kenny built one of the first dive boats built from scratch to accommodate the specific needs of divers, her name was Charisma – later to be sold to myself and re-named Great Escape. Roger and Marilyn operated numerous dive boats in their 50 year history including the Bluefin, Longfin, Toronado, Charisma and Encore. You can read more about Roger’s contributions to the local diving scene at the link below.

The Hess’s request that any and all donations be sent directly to the general USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber in lieu of any flowers or other memorial gifts in the name of Roger Hess. The form to donate can be found here;